Improvement in water-wheels



NIITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN WATER-WH EELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,719, dated November 24, 1863.

T0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, G. W. WHITE, of Monroeton, in the county of Bradford and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Water-Wheel; and I do hereby declare that the following` is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying` drawings,making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side sectional view of my invention, taken in the line x a', lfig. 2. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of thc same, taken in the line y y, Fig. l; Fig. 3, a detached perspective view of a bucket.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the three figures.

This invention relates to an improved waterwheel of that class which are placed on vertical shafts and are inclosed within a case.

The object of the invention is to obtain a wheel of the class specified which will admit of the water acting upon it both by impact and gravity, and at the same time render the wheel capable of being favorably driven under the disadvantage of backwater and without'the employment or use of iiumes or spouts to conduct the water to the wheel, and by which aconsiderable loss of power is caused by friction.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents a penstock of any suitable di' mensions, and having a cylindrical case, B. secured vertically and centrally within it, said ease B extending upward as high as the top of the penstoek. The bottom of the pen,-

stock has a circular opening, c, made in it,

which is equal in diameter to the case B, and across said opening a there is secured a bridgetree,0,on which the waterwheel shaft D is stepped. (See Fig. 1.) The upper end of the shaft D has its bearing in a cross-bar, E, at the top of the penstock A.

On the shaft D the water-wheel F is secured. This Wheel is equal in diameter to the iu terior of the case B, and it works within the lower part of said case.

The wheel is constructed of a cylinder, b, which is connected with the shaft D by means of arms c, and to the outer side of said cylinder the buckets d are secured, said buckets I being encompassed at their upper and lower ends by bands e e, both of Which are showny in Fig. l. The buckets d are of bent form, so as to have two parts, designated by l and 2, about at right angles to each other. per parts, l, of the buckets are considerably shorter than the lower parts, 2, and the latter extend down at an angle of about forty' iive degrees, as shown in Fig. 1. The buckets d, being thus constructed, have concave or V-shaped surfaces at their face sides, and the outer edges of both parts of the buckets are bent or curved, so as to form a lip,f, which eX- tends their whole length, as shown clearly in Fig. 3. Thelower part of the cylindrical case, B thepartin which the Wheel F works-is composed of four waterpassages, g g g g, as shown in Fig. 2. These passages are of curved form, and they gradually decrease in Width from their outer to their inner ends. Each passage is provided with a gate, G.

The operation is as follows The water enters from the penstock A into the passages g, and acts upon the wheel first by impact and then by gravity in passing down the parts 2 of the buckets. The concave or \/form of the buckets, as well as their lips f, prevent the water from passing too rapidly oft', and the full effect of the impact is obtained. The lipsfalso prevent a loss of powerdue to the eentifugal force generated by the rotation of the wheel, which causes the water to fly off from the buckets in a tangent with the Wheel, and by employing four water-passages, g, all or any portion of them may be used, according to the power desired. In case of backwater, .which would impede the free discharge of the water at the bottom of the Wheel, the former will be forced upward above the Wheel. This affords a great relief and compensates in a great measure for the disadvantage attending backwater. In consequence of the water passing direct from the penstock upon the wheel the Water is not retarded by friction, as is the case when it passes through lon g spouts or flumes to reach the wheel.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desirevto secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Constructing the buckets d of the wheel so as to have two inclined surfaces, l 2, to form a concave or V-shaped face, and having The upv lips f at their cuteedgesfasand for the puilowed, in case of backwater, to pss'over the pose specited` l s Y l l i top of the wheel, as set forth.

2. Placing the wheel F in the lower part of :t case, B, which is inserted in the penstock G' W' WHHE' A, in connection with the open top of the Witnesses:

Wheel, whereby the Water is allowed to pass A. H; SEWARD, directly from the penstock to the. Wheel, and D. G. PHELPS, the water, after acting upon the Wheel, al- H. N. CAMP. 

